We did not know Paul well, but he has been described to us as universally well-liked and respected. A former Dade PD, he had a great sense of humor and was a devoted lawyer to his clients. He passed away un-expectedly Friday morning. It has been reported his medical emergency was either before, during or after a sentencing proceeding before Judge Becerra.
This is not our normal, upbeat Labor Day -Holiday Weekend post.
Instead, the loss of a beloved colleague once again reminds us of the fragility and preciousness of life. We take so much for granted, and yet our time on this earth is unknown to all but our maker. It may sound corny and gratuitous but take this holiday weekend and spend time with friends and loved ones. Put down the depo notes or the brief and do something you have been putting off. A walk with your life partner; brunch with your parents; a movie with your kids; a friends night out.
Enjoy this life we have been given and most importantly take good care of yourself. If you haven't been to your doctor for an annual physical, go schedule one. At almost any age you should be able to run a mile without stopping, absent physical limitations. Try some pushups and sit-ups every morning. Have a big bowl of fruit for breakfast. If the stress of our life is getting to you try learning mediation. TM is a great program and something that has worked for us for well over two decades.
Take care of yourself and cherish others in your life. Do good. Feel good. Be good to yourself and others. Life isn't that hard when you boil it down to the simple things that are the essence of living in grace and gratitude.
We hope the grief of the loss of Paul by his loved ones will be eased by the comments and memories that our readers will contribute this weekend.
BTW DOM and I agreed to both do posts in memory of Paul.
19 comments:
I just tried a hard fought case against Paul on September. The fight remained in the courtroom; I adored that big guy. I am devastated by this news.
Godspeed my friend. Paulie, I will miss you. My condolences to his children and family.
Paul was a great guy and a fabulous lawyer. My thoughts go out to his family and all who knew and loved him.
We are all so limited by time RUMPOLE.
Most everything is NONSENSE.
I agree. Take care of yourself. Eat healthy only. Exercise everyday. Walk 10k steps. Lift weights. Lose those extra pounds. Get a blood test twice a year. Have a colonoscopy on schedule. Go to the dermatologist once a year and get a dental cleaning 2x a year.
Be kind to others - and yourself.
Don’t worry. Nothing matters. Love each other.
Stop the hate.
I don’t know why my comment came up as anonymous, it was not intended to be.. I’m proud to sign my name as Paul’s friend and his colleague. We lost a good one today.
I hadn’t seen Paul in a while but had several cases against him as a young ASA. He was a unicorn. The epitome of the consummate professional — tough in the ring, but a gentle and nice colleague outside of it. Gone too soon. May his memory be a blessing.
Paul was one of the nicest guys. We had a multi codefendant case together last year and it was a pleasure to work with him. Paul was a zealous advocate for his clients, a great colleague to work with and just a funny guy who made everyone’s day just a little better with his positive attitude and sense of humor. My prayers go out to his family!
We're going to miss you Paul. At least we know you had a good life and lots of fun while you were still with us.
Tragic news what happened to him?
1/2
PAULIE BOY!
It’s how we greeted each other, always.
It’s what we said to the other, when the other stood up to deliver an opening or closing argument, or eviscerate a prosecution criminal witness on cross exam, during our years as trial partners.
Or when we left silly voice mails for each other (before cell phones.) Or “beeped” each other to random numbers back when we all carried beepers. Or to mock each other and remind each other that we weren’t supposed to get this far, weren’t supposed to be successful. We weren’t even supposed to be alive, we always said.
Or we’d leave a message just to get a laugh. Oh, did we laugh. It was a competition between us…who could make the other laugh harder. If you laughed so hard your rum and coke came out of your nose, you owed $5.00.
It’s also how we opened our talks about how to be men, husbands, fathers, businessmen, trial lawyers, and survivors from the shit we endured and wanted no one to know. And when we called because we had hit rock bottom. Then it was “paulie boy.” It was almost a whisper.
He always took my call, in those moments.
As evidenced by the comments from judges and lawyers, people who knew him well or didn’t know him much, Paul was a special soul. And we all know he had a sense of humor.
The humor was a result of enduring.
Paul would kill me for sharing this, but he can’t. He beat me to it again.
He lost his dad when he was young, and it defined his character. His work ethic. His resilience. His anger. His patience. Laughter is what got Paul through. But it was a chip.
That drive manifested itself when he took Fall River to a Massachusetts state basketball championship in high school, something about which Paul was supremely proud. And something about which I would mock the fuck out of him for his tight 1985 shorts in a picture I always carried. He went on to play four years in college.
Paul was the greatest son to Hazel, who was all of four feet six inches tall and had three sons over 6’3. I always reminded Paul that he was the runt of the litter. He’d respond by telling me to speak up because he couldn’t hear me “from way down there.” Hazel went to church every day. She was grateful to get Paul there on Christmas and Easter.
He loved his daughter and his son more than life itself. They gave him the most joy. It’s my hope that they embrace those qualities he passed to them through DNA as well as osmosis by example, because everything they have of him, will make their lives better.
2/2
For over a decade, we were partners in crime. In and out of the courtroom. Back in the Bennett Brummer days (at which time Judge Scola and Judge Altonaga were not even state court judges yet - thank you so much for your kind words, both of you. Paul would be deeply humbled and spoke often of his abiding respect for you both) the PD’s office would assign us to county court judges that needed more, uh, “trial experience ….” And so we would try cases. Every. Single. Day. Five days a week, four weeks a month. I calculate the mean at 4 months, before a county court judge would express contrition to Mr. Brummer and request new PD’s in her court. I’d be remiss to not mention that we tormented Marvin Gilman to no end. But it was always professional. As far as you know.
That was 30 years ago, Paulie Boy. Where has the time gone, my friend?
We travelled the world. I always had a bodyguard, in Paul. I wish I could tell stories here - there are so many hilarious stories and instances of Paul being gracious - but I can’t.
Paul could try a case. He loved The Fight. Sure, he flipped people or pled people. Because it was in his client’s best interest to do so. But Paul was happiest, and in his element, in The Arena. It is why he respected (and then some) the Scolas Altonagas and D. Miller - they respected him and more importantly, the Art of Trial, which was his calling.
Paul didn’t suffer fools, whether another defense lawyer, prosecutor, client, or judge. He was no bullshit. What you saw was what you got. And if you got any piece, any moment, of Paul Joseph Donnelly, consider yourself lucky.
Remember the scene from the movie “The Town?”
In his thick Boston accent, looking down on me literally, and now for fuck sake figuratively, I keep hearing Paulie say to me, again:
“I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. And you can never ask me about it later. And we’re going to hurt some people.”
Paulie boy - whose car we takin’?
As a former ASA, Paul was always professional and always friendly. He did his job and did it well never making personal attacks. A true loss.
What was the cause?
Paul and I had a case together many years ago that involved money laundering and fraud stretching across two continents, amounting to some fifty million dollars in 2001 dollars, being prosecuted in both federal and state court, with over twenty-five victims all over the United States on my part of the case. What I always loved about seeing Paul was that he was one of the guys in criminal law that appreciated the confluence of the glory of the law and the sloppy nature of human behavior because he saw in that intersection a lot of insight and humor. Because of Paul’s demeanor and understanding, deep understanding, that many times in criminal law there are things that can best be settled by cooperation better than confrontation we grew to enjoy each other’s company and we finished the case amicably and satisfactorily.
RIP my friend. My own little part of the world became a bit smaller this morning having received this news.
And my heart goes out to your family and friends for whom your memory will always be a blessing.
Steve ImMasche
This is awful Abigail
Well said Cali. Not surprised.
I can’t believe he’s gone
I will never forget the day I met Paul. We were both waiting outside the hallway of the courtroom. I remember it so well because I found him to be one of the most honest people I had ever met. He and I just clicked and every time I saw him after that, he was the same great guy. I'm very sorry to hear this news. The world lost a good man.
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/fort-lauderdale-fl/paul-donnelly-12393195
Once you worked with Paul and witnessed his incredible trial skills you had an amazing bond forever. He was always Paulie and I was always Teddy. We got the greatest compliment from Judge Firtel when we walked a couple of small time drug pushers: " You guys raised obfuscation to an art form". Paulie looked at me and said" Teddy, we did good" When I got the news last week I just started to cry. What a tragedy.
Post a Comment